When you see your favorite famous people on TV and in magazines, it’s hard to believe they were ever people like us – working on getting by. But even the brightest stars had to start with their simple first jobs before making it big!
Whether you’re a waitress, a cashier, even a janitor, or have a weird job like lion taming chances are that at least one of the famous actors and actresses you admire once worked a day job as crappy as yours. Some were also in the process of training to enter long-term careers, such as law and teaching, when their big career change came, while others were fresh out of jail after getting caught up in crime.
The moral of the story? You might be stuck doing shifts at a burger joint right now or working your ass off with manual labor, but you never know what opportunities lie ahead, so stay focused on your Hollywood dreams. Find out what stars were doing with their lives before they hit the screen below, and let us know which ones surprised you the most!
#1 Steve Buscemi Was A Firefighter. During The 9/11 Attacks He Returned To His Former Job As A New York Firefighter To Help Out
Image source: Joseph Marzullo
#2 Christopher Walken Was A Lion Tamer, He Was 16 At The Time And Would Perform With A Lioness Named Sheba
Image source: Laurence Agron
#3 Danny DeVito Was A Hairdresser For Corpses, He Would Style Women’s Hair To Make Them Look Beautiful Before They Went Six Feet Under
Image source: Matt Sayles
#4 Harrison Ford Was A Carpenter
Image source: Sergio Mendes, Alexandra Wyman
#5 Christopher Lee Worked For The Intelligence Service
Image source: Pascal Le Segretain
#6 Johnny Depp Worked As A Telemarketer And Hated It, He Only Made One Sale – And Promptly Talked The Customer Out Of The Purchase
Image source: Dior
#7 Rihanna Was An Army Cadet
Image source: rihannacoverage
#8 Pierce Brosnan Was A Professional Fire Eater In His Teens And Performed Under The Big Top For Three Years
Image source: Frazer Harrison
#9 Jim Carrey Quit School To Support His Family And Started Working As A Janitor
Image source: Evan Agostini
#10 Brad Pitt Used To Dress Up As A Chicken For An El Pollo Loco Restaurant In Hollywood
Image source: EMPPL PA Wire
#11 Barack Obama Was An Ice Cream Scooper At Baskin Robbins
Image source: Obama White House
#12 Hugh Jackman Used To Be A Gym Teacher
Image source: thehughjackman, Gareth Cattermole
#13 Bob Ross Was A Sergeant In The Air Force
Image source: Bob Ross Inc
#14 George Clooney Sold Women’s Shoes, Was A Door-To-Door Insurance Salesman, Stocked Shelves, Was A Construction Worker, Cut Tobacco
Image source: Kevin Wilkes, David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock
#15 Bill Murray Used To Sell Chestnuts Outside Of A Chicago Grocery Store
Image source: Dominique Charriau
#16 Gal Gadot Served In The Israeli Defense Forces
Image source: gal_gadot
#17 David Bowie Worked As A Butcher’s Delivery Boy
Image source: Steve Schapiro
#18 Katheryn Winnick Is An Accomplished Martial Artist Who Holds A Third-Degree Black Belt In Taekwondo And A Second-Degree Black Belt In Karate. By 21 She Had Founded And Owned 3 Martial Arts Schools
Image source: FayesVision / WENN
#19 Jason Lee Was A Professional Skateboarder
Image source: Kevin Winter
#20 Chris Pratt Worked As A Stripper While Struggling To Make A Living In Hawaii
Image source: Gregg DeGuire, prattprattpratt
#21 Helen Mirren Worked As A Promoter For An Amusement Park In Southend On Sea
Image source: Bentley Archive/Popperfoto, Jeff Vespa
#22 Tom Hanks Was A Popcorn And Peanuts Vendor
Image source: Dennis Plehn, Paul Treadway
#23 Kate Winslet Was A Sandwich Maker In A Delicatessen
Image source: Ian Gavan
#24 Liam Neeson Trained To Be A Teacher
#25 Whoopi Goldberg Was A Morgue Beautician
Image source: Jason Kempin
#26 Sandra Bullock Worked As A Bartender And Waitress At A Restaurant In Manhattan
Image source: Alessio Botticelli
#27 Tim Allen Was A Drug Dealer
#28 Channing Tatum Used To Be A Stripper
Image source: George Pimentel
#29 Nicole Kidman Studied Massage So She Could Help Her Mother, Who Was Diagnosed With Breast Cancer, With Physical Therapy
Image source: Patrick Riviere, Georges Biard
#30 Gerard Butler Was A Trainee Lawyer But Got Fired Due To His Partying And Frequently Missing Work
#31 Charlize Theron Studied At The Joffrey Ballet School In New York, But Had To Cut Her Dancing Career Short Due To A Knee Injury At The Age Of 19
#32 Jon Hamm Was A Set-Dresser For Porn Films
Image source: Pascal Le Segretain
#33 Victoria Beckham Played A Sperm On Roller Skates For A BBC Sex Education Show Called ‘Body Matters’
Image source: Neilson Barnard
#34 Michelle Pfeiffer Was A Cashier At A Supermarket
Image source: Gary Gershoff
#35 Jake Gyllenhaal Was A Lifeguard
Image source: Araya Diaz
#36 Sheryl Crow Was A Music Teacher In An Elementary School
Image source: Jason Merritt
#37 Evangeline Lilly Worked As A Flight Attendant
Image source: Albert L. Ortega
#38 Adrien Brody Performed Magic Shows At Children’s Birthday Parties As “The Amazing Adrien”
Image source: Jim Smeal, Daniel Zuchnik
#39 Rachel Mcadams Worked At McDonalds
Image source: Christine Chew/UPI
#40 Lucy Liu Was A Secretary, Aerobics Instructor And A Hostess
Image source: celebmafia
#41 Jon Bon Jovi Worked As A Christmas Decoration Maker
#42 Matthew Mcconaughey Cleaned Chicken Coops And Washed Dishes
Image source: Peter Kramer
#43 Julia Roberts Worked As A Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Scooper
Image source: Dan MacMedan
#44 Bradley Cooper Worked As A Doorman At The Morgans Hotel
Image source: abaca
#45 Mick Jagger Was A Bexley Mental Hospital Porter
Image source: ANGELA WEISS
#46 Jennifer Aniston Was A Telemarketer
Image source: Barry King , Ari Perilstein
#47 Jennifer Lopez Worked In A Law Office
Image source: Jon Kopaloff
#48 Walt Disney Was A Paper Boy
Image source: Mondadori Portfolio
#49 Halle Berry Used To Work At Daily Express
Image source: Douglas Morrison, Larry Busacca/MTV1415
#50 Ashton Kutcher Swept Cereal Dust At A General Mills Factory, Sold His Blood For Extra Cash
Image source: NBC
Follow Us
